


Flesh and Bones

by viv_is_spooky



Series: Down to the Root [2]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: And Neither Does Gerry, Chance Meeting, Gen, Gerry & Ria Are Both Around 16 Here, Gerry & Ria Have Both Grown Up With the Fears, Gerry is Beholding-Touched But Not Yet on the Way to Avatarhood, Mary Keay is Awful, Not Integral But it is Mentioned, Ria Has No Filter, Ria is End-Touched But Not Yet on the Way to Avatarhood, Ria's Parents Are a Wholeass End Fear Meal, Smoking, They just talk, but in very different ways, late night conversation, or was it?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24985378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viv_is_spooky/pseuds/viv_is_spooky
Summary: It is 2003. Ria has not yet become the Casualty. Gerry is beginning to wonder if hunting for leitner tomes is worth the trouble.
Relationships: Gerard Keay & Ria Mirti
Series: Down to the Root [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792387
Comments: 10
Kudos: 10





	Flesh and Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Song Recommendation: “Ghost” by Coheed and Cambria
> 
> ( _”As a boy, I watched the world through broken eyes/Given to me by a man, his wife, and all they had disguised/Uncertainty now keeps me asking how I lead the most/As they became, or will I teach the example of their ghost?”_ )

(It is 2:19 AM. Teenage GERRY is looking for a leitner book & going as fast as humanly possible in the process. RIA has just snuck out of her house & is walking down the street. GERRY runs into RIA & keeps running.)

 **RIA** (shouting after him): HEY! What do you think you’re _doing_ ; you made me drop my cigarette!

(GERRY stops for a moment & turns around, surprised by this strange person actually _saying something_ about him running into them. RIA approaches him & then stops a few feet away, crossing her arms. In one hand, she holds a lighter with a skull painted on it. A box of cigarettes is sticking out of her pocket – one lies on the ground behind her.)

 **GERRY** (curious): Why’re you smoking anyway? You don’t look any older than I am.

 **RIA** : It’s none of _your_ business.

 **GERRY** : Ohhhhkay, okay, I was just curious.

(GERRY turns to walk away. RIA suddenly finds herself alone in the dark again, & as much as she hates to admit it, she’s a little scared.)

 **RIA** (calling after Gerry): WAIT!

(GERRY turns around, a little shocked.)

 **GERRY** : Thought what you were doing was ‘none of my business.’

 **RIA** : It _isn’t_. Doesn’t mean I want to be alone.

(GERRY has a book to look for and should really just leave, but he sees that RIA is scared & decides he can’t leave her like that. She’s basically a Dark fear meal right now. He walks back to her. They sit on a stoop outside for awhile in silence while she smokes.)

 **GERRY** (breaking the silence): Sooooooo… why the skull lighter?

 **RIA** : My parents are scared of death. See it _everywhere_. So I’ve decided I like startling them a little. They tried so hard to instill fear in me, and I dunno I just… want to make _them_ scared now.

(RIA flicks the lighter on and off a couple of times. GERRY watches the flame for a moment before responding to her.)

 **GERRY** : My mum tells me I need to face my fears, _all_ of them. It gets exhausting sometimes.

 **RIA** : Yeah. I mean, everything can be terrifying if you think about it too much. My parents think about it too much. (ironic/exasperated laugh) _Way_ too much. And the worst thing is, they make the things that scare them _my_ problem.

 **GERRY** : Yeah. Yeah, my mum likes to make her problems mine too. She thinks I’ll grow up to be just like her, but...I don’t really know if I want that anymore.

 **RIA** : ‘Anymore’?

 **GERRY** : I used to, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth it. (rakes a hand through his hair) She’s never really happy to see _me_.

 **RIA** : I understand that at least. My parents are never _happy_ , just afraid. Always so afraid, always trying to force it on me. I’m not even supposed to be out this late, y’know.

 **GERRY** : Yeah. I figured.

(silence that stretches on just a little too long)

 **GERRY** : Why _are_ you out here this late?

 **RIA** : Because they don’t want me to be.

 **GERRY** (with a little laugh): Right.

 **RIA** : Y’know, they’d take one look at you and call you a bad influence. Without a conversation or anything, just like they do with all of my friends who don’t fit their picture-perfect little definition of ‘safe.’ (exasperated sigh) They think everything in the world is just SO dangerous.

 **GERRY** : … A lot of things in the world _are_ dangerous.

 **RIA** (with certainty): Yeah. You’re not one of them, though.

 **GERRY** (tone shifting from startled to amused to resigned): No, I… guess I’m not.


End file.
